


Rewrite the Past

by felizabeth133



Series: Future and Past Collision [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Marauders - Fandom
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 02:15:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30014595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/felizabeth133/pseuds/felizabeth133
Summary: Sometimes it takes an army to defeat an evil. Actually that's most of the time, but behind every army, there is a source of intel.Sure that was Snape to some extent, but then there was Amanduiel 'Manda' Black, daughter of Sirius Black and Elizabeth Potter.She was the Order's greatest asset.
Relationships: Arthur Weasley/Molly Weasley, George Weasley & Original Character(s), Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Pansy Parkinson/Blaise Zabini, Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s), Theodore Nott/Blaise Zabini
Series: Future and Past Collision [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2207961





	1. Chapter 1

Having the biggest room in the house had its ups and downs. It depends on who is around and what's going on in the house. At first, Manda's room was easily a sanctuary but then the Order decided to take over the house and because her room was the biggest, all of the 'kids' (as they were so often referred to) would bundle up in her room so that if anyone came looking for them to give information, they would all be together and no one would be left out.

Tonight was one of those nights so currently, Manda was lying on her bed with her six month old brother Noah asleep on her chest. George sat beside her with her head in his lap, playing with her hair, Fred was laying on the floor with his legs on the bed, while the trio and Ginny were all sat on the floor. Manda sighed softly as she traced small designs on the back of Noah's back, holding her brother close to her in an almost protective position. She felt Noah start to get fidgety and nudged Fred's foot with her own. He raised an eyebrow at her, not wanting to disturb the nice quiet that was settled over all of them so that they could attempt to make out the conversation downstairs. She nodded over at the stereo and Fred groaned as he got up, more from the effort of getting up than the fact that he had to do it. He then turned on the stereo, running a hand through his hair before he flopped back down on to the floor in his previous position.

Soft music filled the room, drowning out the comforting silence and the quiet arguing that could be heard in the dining room. Manda continued to trace small designs on Noah's back, her eyes fluttering shut as she felt George's hand run through her hair. She felt Noah start to relax and soon his little snores joined the sounds in the room, causing a small smile to grow on Manda's face. A smile that was then mirrored on George's face as he kissed Manda's forehead.

"You ever think about what you want to be when you're older?" Ginny asked, a frown etched on her face as she leant her feet on Manda's desk. The desk was old, one that looked like it had actually been stolen from Hogwarts about a decade or two ago. She'd never really asked her parents about it. It had just always been there.

Manda shrugged lightly, being careful not to jostle Noah. "Either a potions teacher or be like Antonia."

"Who's Antonia?" Ron asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Zabini's mum," Fred told him. "Keep up Ron. Manda runs with a different crowd. You can't be a part of conversations if you don't keep up."

Ron rolled his eyes but Hermione quickly saved them all from a sibling dispute by asking: "why Mrs Zabini?"

"That woman is a literal icon. She's definitely been killing her husbands for their money but she is so," she paused for a second to cover Noah's ears, "fucking pretty that guys just don't care and they marry her on the spot," Manda pointed out, uncovering Noah's ears once she was done. "Plus she made me cherry and chocolate brownies once because Blaise wouldn't do my homework for me. She's basically a second mum."

"So basically, what I'm hearing is that you either want to be a teacher or a widow?" Harry asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes but a rich widow."

"Aren't you going to end up with that Black family fortune though?" Fred pointed out as he sat up and looked over at her.

"Plus you have your half of the Potter fortune from your mum as well," George added.

"Which I then have to share with Noah and any other kids my parents decide to suddenly have," Manda pointed out before she shrugged. "But then again, that isn't that much of a difference. Maybe I don't need to be a widow."

"You want to change your answer?" Ginny asked with an amused smile.

"And wouldn't you have to kill George if you want to be a widow?" Ron added.

"No, see, I would marry rich, they would mysteriously die and then I'd marry George and we'd live happily ever after and I would become a potions teacher just for fun," Manda told them all, causing George to let out a soft chuckle.

"Nice to know that you have the whole future planned out," he commented, kissing her cheek gently. "I think you'd be a great Potions teacher."

Before the conversation could continue any further, all of them were called down to dinner. Manda carefully sat up, making sure not to jostle Noah so that he continued sleep. Dinner was early that night which probably meant that the meeting hadn't exactly gone very well. She sighed softly and carefully carried Noah downstairs, leading all of the others.

Now they all just had to worry about getting as much information as possible from everyone in the meeting. It wouldn't be that hard...

Maybe. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: some triggering sexual abuse brought up in this chapter.

Something that a lot of people got very wrong about Antonia Zabini was that each of her husbands died because she wanted their money. That's what the Prophet always said so that's what everyone believed. Because she had genuinely loved every single man that she'd married. She'd fallen in love countless times with countless men but there was one common thread that made it easy for her to fall out of love with them as quickly as she'd fallen _in_ love with them.

That common thread was Blaise.

There was never anything that Antonia would love more than her son. Not money. Not fame. Not her good looks. Blaise was the only constant that Antonia needed in her life. While each of the men that she'd married had been perfect gentlemen up until their wedding day and had been perfect father figures to Blaise, that always changed a few months after the marriage had been made official. Blaise had started to grow up knowing that he needed to lock his door or keep it barricaded whenever he went to bed and he started to hate that he was such a light sleeper.

At Hogwarts, Blaise was always reluctant to sleep in the same dorm as the rest of the boys so Manda had always let him sleep in the same bed as her. This then changed one summer when they were twelve and Manda was spending the summer with the Weasleys.

She'd been shaken awake by Mrs Weasley, mumbling a soft apology but that she had a friend downstairs who looked immensely shaken up. Manda had quickly shrugged on her dressing gown and made her way downstairs, her frown growing deeper when she saw Blaise shivering on the couch. She made her way over and slipped her hand carefully in to his, the two silently making their way up to Charlie's room since it was the room closest from everyone and they didn't want to wake anyone else up.

They never talked about what it was that had happened but she knew that Antonia had figured it out just as quickly as Manda had because the next week they were attending another lavish funeral and the pictures were in the paper. Manda didn't see Blaise for the rest of that summer, Antonia having taken him to Italy to see his grandma, but Blaise also stopped sleeping in Manda's bed when they got back to school.

Ever since then, Manda worried about Blaise quite often which was always insanely obvious by her hair turning a soft sage colour, a colour that was pretty much only reserved for when she was thinking about Blaise... which was something that only George knew.

So when they were all making their way downstairs after being called for dinner, George didn't interrupt Manda's thoughts when he saw her hair colour. This colour of Manda's hair was typical at Grimmauld Place so people weren't that shocked when they did find her hair that colour instead of its usual bouncing blonde. The only person that the sage coloured hair bugged was George purely because when it came to Blaise and Manda, there was just something about their relationship that just didn't sit right. Maybe it was their intense co-dependency on each other or the fact that Manda would sometimes drift at random points in the day. At one point, Manda had just stopped talking to Ginny and left to go find Blaise based off of a hunch feeling that she'd apparently had. George knew better than to bring it up though.

Manda and Blaise's relationship was not something that was a simple topic of conversation.

Another very common occurrence in Grimmauld Place besides Manda's sage green hair, was for Snape to storm out of the house with a sour look on his face after every single Order meeting that he attended. This always put a smile on each of the Order kids' faces and the large majority of them had to keep back little giggles. Manda let out a soft sigh when she felt Noah start to get fussy in her arms when they stopped at the bottom of the stairs, silently thankful for Fred now distracting him by pulling silly faces as they all waited for the Order members to shuffle out of the house at their own pace. Usually the kids were made to wait but it seemed like they might be learning a lot more than usual since only a handful of the members glamoured their appearances.

That night they were all eating in the dining room, Molly having said something about how they all needed to sit down and eat like a family. Naturally, this had caused an argument between Sirius and Molly about what that actually entailed because he felt they were doing that down in the kitchens as well. Thankfully, Liz had quickly cut in, calmed Sirius down and they'd worked out a compromise to eat in the upper dining hall once a week. Not many understood how hard it was for Sirius to be in that house, let alone to sit in the same places that he'd had to sit as his family so Sirius and Liz were always the last ones to sit down and nobody had a designated seat either which seemed to help calm him down quite a lot.

When the kids reached the bottom of the stairs finally and were making their way to the dining room, Manda was met with the sight of her father rubbing the back of his head with a cheeky smirk on his face that went away rather quickly whenever Liz looked in his direction. Liz occasionally shot her husband a glare, not falling for any of his fake hurt or fake guilt on his face. After all, they wouldn't have worked out for this long if she couldn't. Remus just rolled his eyes and took his godson from Manda's arms, his eyes softening and a smile spreading across his face as Noah stopped fussing the second that he was close to Remus. Manda sent her godfather a very grateful smile as she sat down in a random seat, her hand running through her blonde hair.

"You're lucky that Snape isn't coming to any meetings during the school year," Liz told her daughter as she sat down again and rubbed her slightly swollen belly.

"Why?" Manda asked with a raised eyebrow. She was more confused about why that would make her lucky rather than why Snape wouldn't be going to Order meetings. She guessed the Order meetings thing made sense. He couldn't exactly be seen leaving school grounds every five minutes to go to Death Eater or Order meetings.

"Because your father doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut," Liz told her, shooting Sirius a look that he returned with an innocent smile on his face. Once Liz wasn't looking at him though, Sirius sent his daughter a mischievous wink.

Manda let out a soft laugh and both father and daughter sent Liz an innocent smile when they both got a quick glare sent in both of their directions. She knew better than to take the conversation further than things were already in regards to this conversation. It looked like Liz was more than exhausted and after how bad her pregnancy with Noah had been, Manda wasn't surprised. Manda tried not to think about what might happen to her and her siblings if anything happened to her parents. She wasn't entirely sure that she'd be able to handle it. Whoever ended up looking after them would all depend on who was still around and maybe Manda would be of age by then so she'd be made their guardians. How she was meant to manage that was beyond her. 

Eventually, Manda was pulled out of her thoughts as each of the kids realised that the adults were being a bit too quiet. There usually was an air of calm quiet after a meeting as each of the adults tried to muddle over their thoughts of everything that had occurred during but this time it was different. There was an uncomfortable stillness surrounding them all that Manda couldn't quite place the reason for. It had to do with a lot more than whatever it was her father had said to Snape, that was for sure. 

"So... what exactly happened in that meeting?" Harry asked with a frown, glancing at each adult sat at the table. 

Liz and Molly both shared a look. It was a specific type of look that concerned mothers seemed to have whenever they knew something could harm their children. It was a look that Manda was slowly becoming used to seeing followed by annoyance when both women realised that there wasn't exactly much that they could do to resolve the situations that their children found themselves in. Remus and Sirius, however, shared a conspirators look that was not lost on Arthur because he decided to distance himself from the pair and help Molly with dinner. Manda glanced over at George since it was their parents that were acting the weirdest but all he had to offer was a shrug which kind of summed up how everyone was feeling about how the adults had reacted. 

Everyone in the room stayed absolutely silent at Harry's question and each of the children in the room tried to make it look like they weren't itching to know the answer. The only sound in the room came from Noah babbling to Kingsley about a drawing that he'd somehow done, most likely with crayons that Remus kept on him in case he ever had Noah. 

"Some of us are concerned that Snivellus-" 

"Sirius." 

"Severus," Sirius corrected to avoid his wife's anger, "isn't able to provide the information that we expected from him based off of his... station in the Dark Lord's ranks." 

"Then what does that mean for us? I thought that he was the only spy we have?" Hermione asked with an obvious frown on her face. 

"He is, yes," Kingsley answered, taking his attention away from Noah to cover up Sirius' usual grumblings whenever Snape was a topic of conversation. "There haven't been any other opportunities that arose for us to be able to have another spy so currently Severus is the only one we have." 

"He doesn't have to be though," Manda pointed out. "Not if you actually thought through every single person that you have available." 

"What do you-" 

"Absolutely not!" Liz snapped before Kingsley could ask what it was that Manda meant. "Do not even think about it! We all know what you were about to suggest and I swear if anyone in this room says the words then you're banished from this house!" 

Kingsley carefully excused himself to go and tell Molly and Arthur to hurry up with dinner so that a Black family argument didn't break out. Everyone knew that food was the perfect distraction for a pregnant woman so hopefully distracting Liz for a bit would give everyone time to think with a clear head. Sirius just stayed silent, a frown on his face as he watched his wife and daughter stare each other down. Everyone else avoided looking at the mother-daughter duo but Sirius couldn't seem to take his eyes off of them. The pair just looked too similar for Sirius to look away. 

Yes, Manda had been raised by Narcissa and Lucius but that didn't mean that she didn't still have some of the same mannerisms as Liz and Sirius, her even having some from Remus as well. Those mannerisms that she inherited from her father seemed to come out more when she was feeling playful and mischievous. It was in the way that her eyes would light up or it was in the carefully hidden winks that she would send people behind an authority figure's back. When it came to the mannerisms she inherited from her mother though, they usually came out when Manda was angry or stubborn. Right now they looked almost identical. It was in the way that they both scrunched up their noses when they were annoyed or the crease between their eyebrows when they were waiting for their opponent to back down and just admit that they were right. 

There were two big reasons that Sirius stayed completely silent. The first was that he didn't exactly want to _have_ to get involved in the discussion (if it could be called that) between his wife and daughter, not without knowing exactly where he stood on the matter. If he didn't go in with a proper game plan and thought out argument then they would surely eat him alive. The second was that while Sirius may be an overprotective father that was trying to make up for more than a decade worth of abandonment, he was also a strategist who thought through every single possibility. He would be lying if he hadn't thought about the possibility of using Manda as a spy whenever Snape had come back with terrible news and barely any information. 

Sirius frowned and ran a hand through his hair, glancing over at Remus for some sort of guidance. Remus was always good for guidance... but apparently not in this situation because all that he was able to offer Sirius was a wary look and a shrug. Nobody really knew how to handle Liz when she was angry so it was getting harder to handle Liz and Manda at the same time. 

Sirius turned his attention back to the two women that he cared most about in the world, one of them pregnant with his unborn child and the other the child that he was trying to make amends with. He chewed on the inside of his cheek before he cleared his throat and spoke. 

"Maybe um... maybe Manda has a point." 


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm sorry, what?!"

"Wait, really?"

"Sirius, you moron."

Three different reactions from three different people. Liz, Manda, Remus. In that order. Everyone else just looked at Sirius with shock written all over their faces, unable to believe that he'd actually said that he thought Manda was right. Well, everyone was looking at him apart from George who was watching his girlfriend's reaction and Noah who was playing with Remus' jumper.

George wasn't overly fond of the way that Manda's eyes lit up at her father's words, the way that she smiled at the fact that he told her she was right made George feel sick to his stomach. One parent saying yes means that Manda was one step closer to being the most at risk of everyone at this table (with the exception of Harry of course) and while he didn't know everything that the poor girl had gone through when she had lived with the Malfoys, he knew it was likely to be worse now that Bellatrix was living there.

He just had a bad feeling about this. Fortunately, Sirius felt the same way, but he also knew that sometimes there were risks that had to be taken.

"If anyone would be able to get us the information we need, it's Manda," Sirius pointed out, looking over at his very angry wife. "She's a Slytherin, she's still close with the Malfoy boy, Narcissa can never help taking in a stray."

"She isn't a stray, Sirius. She's your daughter," Liz argued, hands on her hips. A very angry mother protecting her child. That was what Liz was. Trying to make up for years of abandonment that she had no choice in. She wasn't about to throw her daughter into something so dangerous.

"And maybe Narcissa sees her as her daughter too. She did raise her for years." Everyone picked up on the hint of regret in Sirius' tone but no one said anything. "Remus back me up."

"I'm not getting involved," Remus told his friend as he looked over at his goddaughter. He'd been more than willing to take Manda in, the Ministry just hadn't allowed it. Told him that he was a safety risk, like he hadn't looked after that child for days on end while Liz worked and Sirius was off on missions.

"Traitor."

"Do I not get a say in this?" Manda asked, to which Molly and Liz both responded with a simple 'no'.

"You're a child. You aren't doing this. It isn't safe," Molly told her goddaughter as she set plates of food in front of everyone.

Manda groaned lightly and sipped her drink, running a hand through her now green hair. "You just don't want me to have a say because you know I'd do it," she grumbled, George squeezing her hand under the table.

She looked over at her boyfriend and that was when she noticed the worry in his eyes. George just was less likely to say something about it with everyone around, not wanting to cause an argument with her but also not wanting her to think he didn't support her and Manda knew that. She just couldn't help but wish he would say something about it or tell her how worried he was rather than her having to figure it out herself. The worry in George's eyes was perfectly mirrored in Molly's eyes, and Liz's. In fact it was in nearly everyone's eyes but Sirius'. His eyes shone with defiance but she knew if he wasn't so set on people seeing he had a valid point, they'd be filled with worry too. She sighed softly and leaned her head on George's shoulder, lacing their fingers together as he rubbed small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. She knew she could get him to talk about it later with her. Right now, him just being there by her side was enough.

"You realise that I'm literally in the same house as them? And most of them are like my best friends? So I could find things out easier than Snape who is already hated by most of the Death Eaters so they aren't exactly having fun gossip sessions. If he asks questions then it makes him suspicious since he's already been accused of being a double agent. He asks questions and he'll get found out. No one knows that I moved back in with you guys, they assume I'm staying with the Weasleys, not with my parents and potential threats to them," Manda pointed out before she started eating.

Everyone at the table was silent, the adults thinking and the kids not wanting to interrupt their thoughts. They all knew Manda was right. She'd make a much better spy than Snape. She would be able to get information that Snape couldn't. It was just a matter of whether her parents would allow it.

"Fine," Liz said quietly but she didn't have to speak any louder for everyone to hear her. You could hear a pin drop in this room. "But not until you have code words and escape plans sorted out. You're not just showing up on their doorstep without a plan."

"I'll go through it with it with her tomorrow," Kingsley said, sending Liz a comforting smile.

Manda was over the moon, glad that people were finally seeing that she could help. George just felt sick to his stomach. 


	4. Chapter 4

George was quiet. Weirdly quiet. 

That was the first thing Manda noticed when the couple made their way up to her room, telling their parents they were just going to say goodnight like they did every night but everyone knew George always ended up in her bed. It was getting to the point where she couldn't sleep unless he was right beside her with his arms wrapped around her. 

Anyway, getting off topic. The point is, Manda could tell that something was off because not a single word had been uttered between the two of them since they left the kitchen after dinner. She slipped her hand in to his and looked over at him, smiling slightly when she felt him lace their fingers together. Good. That was a good sign. Meant he wasn't mad at her. Not mad. Just disappointed. 

Manda closed her door behind them and raised an eyebrow at him. "So are we just not speaking or were you waiting till we were alone to tell me why you're annoyed with me?" 

George sighed and looked over at her as he sat on her bed. "I'm not annoyed with you. Just... the situations that you put yourself in without thinking about it." 

"That's kind of hypocritical you know?" Manda pointed out as she sat down beside him, crossing her legs and leaning her head on his shoulder. "You put yourself in annoying situations all the time as well." 

"I don't put myself in any that could get me killed though," he pointed out as he wrapped an arm around her and laid on the bed with her. 

"Maybe it's a family thing. My parents seem to do it as well. And Harry. He's technically my cousin." 

George sighed softly and kissed the top of her head. "Nothing I say is going to stop you, is it?" He asked her quietly, playing with her strand of her now blue hair. He hated when he was the reason for it being that colour. He never meant to hurt her but this... this wasn't something that he could just ignore and Manda knew that. But they both also knew that she was their best bet at finding anything out from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It just didn't seem like a good enough reason to send a fifteen year old off somewhere that none of them could keep her safe. 

"I'd only be there for a couple of weeks. Then I'd be at school with you guys. They're just more likely to not change the conversation if I go back," she said softly and traced small designs on to George's arm. 

George looked down at her softly and kissed the top of her head gently. "Your hair has been blue a lot more lately... mainly when you're around your parents..." he said quietly, wanting to tackle the other issue that he had this summer when it came to her. 

She shrugged lightly. "My dad keeps saying that we need to talk but we haven't sat down and had whatever conversation it is that he wants to have. I'm just worried about what it is." 

George ran a hand through her hair gently and smiled a bit. "I'm sure it's nothing bad. If it was that important then he would have talked to you about it already." 

"Yeah... I guess..." she said quietly and cuddled up to him a bit more. 

It was always easier for her to feel safe and like herself when she was around him. Being in his arms made everything better and she hated to think about what would happen if she ever lost him. 

She wouldn't survive it. So maybe... just maybe, her doing this wasn't a good idea... 


	5. Chapter 5

The house was quiet. 

Sirius and Liz were watching Manda. Manda was trying not to cry and yell and scream. Harry was awkwardly sitting at the top of the stairs with the other kids in the house. George was tapping his foot quietly against the carpeted floor, waiting for some sort of noise to indicate how everything was going in the closed off living room. He wanted more than anything to be able to be in there and make sure that she was okay but he knew better than anyone that this was a conversation that she needed to get through by herself. He would just be more than ready to be by her side the second that she needed him. 

"So who are we counting in this family?" Manda asked quietly, her hair turning a dark blue as she avoided eye contact with her parents. She knew everyone else was on the other side of that door listening in but right now she didn't care. Everything that she had feared was being confirmed. 

Sirius and Liz shared a look before they turned their attention back to Manda. Sirius let out a shaky breath. "You, us, maybe Remus if he wanted, and Harry. He needs a family. Someone who actually cares about him and that would be us." 

"Fine. Whatever, it's not like I get a choice in the matter," Manda pointed out and ran a hand through her hair. There was no point in her arguing this. She was the child. She didn't get a say in these things. "Can I just ask something that's been bothering me though?" 

"Of course. What is it?" Liz asked her daughter with a slight frown on her face. To say that she was worried about her daughter was a little bit of an understatement. 

No one really knew what was going through Manda's head right now. George barely even knew. Honestly, Manda only knew that she was hurt. That she was completely and utterly hurt by pretty much everything that was going on. The only other thing that she could possibly think of was that she was sick of always having to prove herself to everybody around her. To prove that maybe she didn't have to be the second choice. 

"If Harry hadn't been in trouble, would you ever have bothered to try and find me?" She asked them, raising her eyebrow. "Or to break out of Azkaban to find me?" 

Again, there was that awful silence. 

It was starting to get painful. Whenever Liz and Sirius had imagined their lives after graduation, they had never imagined that their home would be filled with silence. They had always imagined laughter and happiness and their friends popping in and out whenever they had the chance. They had never imagined that their house would be filled with silence. That out of the four people that they had expected to visit, two of them were dead, one of them was a traitor and the fourth was even more unhappy than he had ever been. Then again, they had also never imagined that they would be living in Grimmauld place but instead in the house that Sirius had built for them near Hogsmeade when they'd found out Liz was pregnant. 

But things didn't work out that way so they were left with the silence. 

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking over at his daughter. "No. No, I probably wouldn't have," he admitted. 

Manda's hair turned black, the darkest shade of black that anyone had ever seen her have. Sirius went to say more but Manda didn't want to hear it so she cut him off. "Okay... well then I guess you'll be happy to know that you won't have to put up with me much longer because I leave at the end of the week to stay with the Zabinis for the rest of the holidays." 

She got up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she fled the room, pushing past the kids on the stairs and slamming her bedroom door shut behind her. 

This time there wasn't silence. 

All you could hear was Manda sobbing in her room and everyone quietly talking in the kitchen. Everyone but George. 

George was sat outside Manda's bedroom door. He would be there as long as he needed to be. Whether it was that she asked for him or that she decided to leave her, he would be there for her when she was ready to be around someone else. He listened to her try to muffle her sobs with what he was assuming was a pillow. He listened to her pace as she tried to get her breath back and calm down. He listened to her grab a suitcase from her wardrobe and start to pack it. He listened to her sniffles as she locked the suitcase and stashed it under her bed. 

He knew her too well to know that it was way too soon for him to go in. She needed to feel in control, like she actually had a say in something. Him just going straight in would ruin that for her. 

George knew that better than anyone else. 

Then again, George knew her better than anyone else anyway. 


	6. Chapter 6

"George, where the hell are we going?" Manda asked with a sigh as George was dragging her out of the house and towards the closest park.

"Well, if I tell you that then it'll ruin the surprise," George pointed out, making Manda roll her eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you."

"Then trust me now."

"You aren't going to make me regret this are you?"

"When have I ever made you regret trusting me?" George asked her but then cut her off before she could respond. "Actually don't answer that."

"I'll get you a list before I go," Manda teased and kissed his cheek. George grinned at that and wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked through the park, Manda still completely oblivious as to what it was that they were even doing. 

At one point during their walk, they ran in to Remus walking her dad in his animagus form. As far as Manda knew they did this once a day to make sure that Sirius didn't go stir crazy in the house. It wasn't like he could go for a walk on his own and Liz was currently way too pregnant to be able to take him anymore. That meant that it was either Manda or Remus that took him and since Manda and her father weren't on talking terms, it was Remus' job. 

"What are you two doing out? I thought Molly told you wanted you all cleaning the study today?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile. 

"Well, I kind of had other plans before she basically yelled that at us so we snuck out," George admitted with a shrug. "I'm sure she won't even notice." 

"She's definitely going to notice but Molly has a soft spot for me so I won't get blamed for this," Manda pointed with a slight smile on her face. She looked over as she scratched behind her dad's ear, sighing softly. Yes, she was hurt but he was her dad and she would always care about him. 

Remus looked over at Manda and Sirius and sighed. "You know he's been sleeping curled up outside your door for the last couple of nights?" Remus told her honestly, earning a slight warning growl from Sirius that he just shrugged off. 

Manda raised an eyebrow, slightly confused before she nodded. "Yeah, I was planning on talking to him and mum before I leave on Friday." 

Manda tried not to think about the fact that she felt George's grip on her waist tighten a little bit. They still hadn't really talked about her leaving but she knew that they would have to at some point. It was just a matter of when and what they then ended up deciding on to make this easier for them while she had to play the double agent role. 

"Well, I'd suggest in the mornings so he's awake enough to process but not awake enough to argue with you or your mother. Not like he could ever win that argument and I don't know why he'd think that he could but he'll try," Remus pointed out with a shrug, stepping out of Sirius' way, who huffed and started to walk back in the direction of the house. Remus smiled innocently and bid the couple goodbye before he followed after the scruffy looking black dog. 

Manda rolled her eyes lightly. "He is going to get so much crap for that when they get in," she pointed out as George continued to lead her to wherever it was that he was planning on taking her. "How much longer? Because I feel like this is taking forever." 

"Stop complaining. It'll take like two more minutes and then we'll be there," George told her as he kissed her temple. "Besides, you're the one complaining about how you aren't feeling normal lately so how about you stop complaining and let your boyfriend take you on a nice normal date." 

"Well, when you put it like that you make me seem like an unappreciative brat," Manda commented as she looked over at him. 

"Well then I guess that makes you my unappreciative brat. Though I would never call you that," George said with a shrug as he pulled her closer to him. 

They then reached a small field that was partially shielded from the park nearby. Already set up was a little picnic with one of Manda's favourite blankets spread out under it. The first thing that her eyes were drawn to was the pot of cherries that made her face light up. Cherries were always the best way to Manda's heart. She smiled softly and kissed his cheek gently. 

"I'm sorry for being a brat," she said softly as George led her over and sat down beside her. 

"Well, I wouldn't say you were being a brat," he said with a smirk as he looked over at her, handing her the bowl of cherries. "Difficult was definitely a word I would have used though." 

"I think difficult is a word that a lot of people would use to describe me," she admitted with a shrug before she ate one of the cherries. 

"Well there are also a bunch of other words that I would use to describe you," George told her with a shrug. 

"Oh yeah? Like what?" 

"I'll write you a list before you go." 


	7. Chapter 7

Though Manda had never met her grandmother Walburga at any point in her life, she was still fully aware of what she sounded and looked like. How, you might ask? Well because of one very annoying portrait in the downstairs hallway of the house. 

Whenever someone knocked on the door and rung the doorbell, the yelling and racial slurs started which caused the cranky, sleep deprived toddler, Noah, to start crying, Sirius to go quiet and flinch a bit, and for Liz to place a hand on his shoulder even if she had been in a different room before the yelling had started. Remus was always the one to answer the door purely for these reasons while Manda was in charge of shutting the portrait up. Wearing her Slytherin tie seemed to help a lot more than it probably should have but they were just glad that it did in fact work in shutting up Walburga and her hate speech that could be heard from all corners of the house.

Another thing that Manda had learnt while at Grimmauld Place was that Kreacher was actually more than willing to be at her beck and call without any complaints, the exact opposite of how he was towards her father and everyone else in the old home. Turns out being a Slytherin was worth a lot more in the history of the Black family than it did at Hogwarts. Manda still tried not to think about the utter disappointment she'd felt when being sorted in to Slytherin. That accompanied with the booing from the three other houses had made her want to just quit school and she probably would have if she didn't have friends like Blaise, Theo and Draco. 

Manda's trip to the Zabini household had been postponed due to Blaise's mother randomly deciding that she needed more of a tan so she took her son with her to Spain. Blaise had announced this on the piece of paper that flitted between four different households, and each of the other three involved had teased him about possibly coming home with a new dad. If it had been anyone other than the three of them, they definitely wouldn't have lived to see whether that prediction became a reality or not. 

When she made her way in to the room that had been given to the twins, she was greeted with a heavy smoke that caused her to cough. Pretty quickly a window was opened and the air slowly became more breathable but Manda, Fred and George were all still coughing. 

Manda raised an eyebrow at the pair and the soot clinging to their hair. "I don't even want to know." 

"You're dad's not going to be pissed right?" George asked her as he tried to shake the soot out of his hair. 

"If you blew the place up he'd probably thank you," Manda told them as she flopped on to Fred's bed since it was the closest to the door. "He hates this place." 

"So what I'm hearing is that we can blow the house up," Fred commented with a decisive nod as he closed the window. 

Manda rolled her eyes but had a slight smile on her face as she sat up and felt George kiss her cheek. "Anyway, I actually came to get you guys. Molly's throwing a party for Hermione and Ron getting prefect," Manda told them with a shrug as she stood again. 

"Why just those two? I thought you did as well?" George asked her with a raised eyebrow. 

"Oh, I did. I just didn't want a party so I told my dad and my mum and then you two and that was it. Oh and Remus but only because I knew my dad would otherwise." 

"You're a traitor," Fred told George as the trio started to leave the room and head downstairs. "Dating a prefect. I thought you were raised better," he tsked as he shook his head. 

George just rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Manda's shoulder, keeping her close to him as they all walked down the stairs. "See, if you think about it, it's the perfect situation. She's more likely to look the other way if we break a rule. You think any others would? No. We got Manda, Ron _and_ Hermione to help us stay out of trouble. It's all good." 

Fred hesitated in his response as he thought about everything that his twin had just said. "Fair point, Georgie. Fair point. Manda, you get to stay." 

"Gee, thanks Fred. Nice to know that I have the Frederick Weasley seal of approval," Manda said sarcastically as she looked over at her boyfriend's identical twin. 

"No problem. Just doing what I can for the community."


	8. Chapter 8

"Your mum keeps glaring at you," Manda whispered softly to the twins and Mundungus who were tucked away in the corner of the room whispering to each other. 

Fred looked over his shoulder briefly and sent his mother a smile as George pulled Manda down to sit in his lap. Manda kissed his cheek gently and leaned her head on his shoulder, not really listening to the conversation that was going on around her. She traced small designs on the back of his hand, something that she did often. She usually did it with a pen that Hermione always made sure to make sure she had on her in case Manda had sudden inspiration. In fact, there was a whole bin full of dead pens and broken pencils in her room and George's hand was nearly always covered in ink, as was Blaise and Theo's whenever George wasn't around. 

George watched her, occasionally blanking out the conversation before he was dragged back in to it by something either Fred or Mundungus had said. He noticed the way that Manda's eyes kept changing colours, probably to the colour of whatever it was she had decided would be a certain colour on the drawing if she actually had the colours with her. That was what he was assuming anyway. He always noticed the little things about her, the way that she sometimes had freckles and sometimes her eyes changed colour. 

Manda kissed his cheek before she slipped out of his lap and went to go grab a drink. That was when she saw Noah trying to grab something off the table. He almost had it but she knew that if she didn't help him now, that whole table and all of the food and drink on it were going to come crashing on the floor. 

"How about I help you there, buddy?" Manda said softly as she picked up her little brother and looking down at the table. 

"Otay. Dat one," Noah said as he pointed to the plate of cupcakes, more specifically the only chocolate cupcake left on the plate. 

Manda smiled softly and handed it to him, kissing his temple gently. "There you go. You seen Daddy anywhere, Little Man?" Manda asked him with a raised eyebrow. 

But it was way too late. Noah was already completely invested in nothing but this one chocolate cupcake that was now in his hands. Manda chuckled softly and set the boy down in Bill's lap, who ended up grinning and talking to the toddler immediately after he was set in his lap. Manda decided to go looking for her father and when she didn't find him in the room or on the first floor at all, she made her way upstairs where she heard sobbing. 

She frowned and made her way down to the study, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she carefully pushed the door open. Her frown worsened when she saw Molly sobbing... but then she saw why she was sobbing and a strangled sob left Manda's lips. 

George... George wasn't dead. He couldn't be. She'd seen him downstairs mere minutes ago. Sure he was reckless but he couldn't be that reckless and stupid to get himself killed in the few minutes that she was gone to get himself killed out of nowhere. 

But then Molly let out a choked _Riddikulus_ and the bodies on the floor changed from Fred and George to Ron. Manda quickly yelled down the stairs for someone and the first two people that got to them were Remus and Sirius. Sirius pulled his daughter close while Remus dealt with the Boggart. Unlike everyone else, he faced his worst fear every single month. 

Sirius carefully guided his shaking daughter out of the room and down the hall to her own. He noticed that her hair was a worrying shade of dark blue and that she had flinched a bit when he led her out of the room, almost like she was terrified to leave in case she found that horror in front of her somewhere else. He slowly guided her in to her room and helped her lay down, holding her still as he ran a hand through her hair gently. It had always worked as a baby to have her hair played with, so there wasn't much of a reason for it not to work now. 

"Everything's okay. George is on his way up. He's okay," Sirius whispered softly as he saw her hair slightly turn a lighter shade of blue at hearing George was okay. "I am sorry, Manda. I would have come back sooner if I knew how you'd been treated. I thought you were with your mum still. I didn't know. I would have come back and we would have been a family. Everything would have been as it should have been. I mean, we would have been on the run mostly like we are now but still." 

Manda's shaking started to subside as she listened to her father speak, knowing even before than that he'd never meant what he'd said when she'd asked him if he'd ever have broken out sooner for her. She cuddled up to her father a bit more, the shaking now at a complete stop but her hair still blue. 

"I just didn't want to be the reason that your life went all over the place but apparently I already caused that. I didn't just break out because of Harry. I did it because of you as well. That's why I came to find you first and you looked happy so I let you be," Sirius explained before he got up so that George could take his spot. 

George made his way over and laid down beside Manda, holding her close to him as Sirius started to leave the room. The door quietly closed behind him and Manda sniffled lightly. George looked down at her softly and kissed her forehead. 

"It's okay. I've got you," he whispered softly. 

And she knew that was true. No matter what happened, George was always there to hold her at the end of the day. She just hoped it would always be that way. 


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay, Moony, be honest with me. What sounds better? Elizabeth Black or Sirius Potter?" 

"Sirius, you are literally married to the woman already and have been for almost fifteen years. Why is this a discussion?" Remus asked his best friend with a sigh, looking over at Liz who just held her hands up to let him know she wasn't getting involved just yet. 

"Because, my dearest Moony, I am simply curious and you are a terrible friend for questioning me," Sirius told him. 

Manda rolled her eyes as she sat down in her usual seat the breakfast table. She was set to leave that afternoon for the Zabini household and while she was more than ready to see her fellow Slytherins again, she was definitely going to miss walking in to the most random conversations that she had ever heard in her life. 

"He wants to know if he should change his name," Liz told Remus with a sigh. "Even though we literally had this conversation the night before our wedding and the night he proposed and when Manda was born and then again when Noah was born. So I don't know why he keeps asking everyone." 

"Because I need to know from multiple people. I can't just change my name based off of one person's opinion, Lizzie. That's a terrible idea," Sirius argued. 

"Okay but why do you need to change your name at all?" Manda asked with a raised eyebrow as she poured herself a cup of coffee. 

It was just the Black family in the house today, the Weasleys, Hermione and Harry all having gone out for back to school shopping so they could get it out of the way and everyone else in the Order going about their lives. Noah was colouring in a random piece of parchment while he sat in his father's lap, Liz was rubbing her swollen belly, and Remus was holding his cup of coffee like his life depended on its magical powers to keep him awake. Manda was pretty sure that if everything with Voldemort hadn't happened, this is how her life could have been every single day. 

Sirius thought about it for a second before he shrugged. "No clue. Don't have to. Just want to see what people think." 

Manda raised an eyebrow at her father but shrugged it off. She sat down and ran a hand through her hair, watching Noah scribble all over the scrap bit of parchment. It was peaceful and perfect and everything that she had always wanted for a morning. Remus left not long after the surname discussion and Liz was so exhausted that she was falling asleep in her chair (apparently the baby had been keeping her awake with its kicking). 

"You ever wonder what the quietest thing is that can set the portrait off?" Manda asked her father. 

"Sometimes. I wanted to test it before the Order settled in here but they arrived sooner than I thought they would," Sirius admitted. 

"I dare you to know every single thing that she says the next time she goes off." 

Sirius's face lit up a bit at that. "And what do I get if I get it all right?" 

Manda thought about it for a minute before she smiled innocently over at her father. "I will help you find a way to legally change your surname. But, if you lose, I get to take you on the longest dog walk ever." 

"No," Liz said with a sigh, opening her eyes again. "Your father isn't allowed to take dares." 

"What? Why?" 

"Apparently, according to your mother and Remus, I have no regard for my own personal safety," Sirius told her with a roll of his eyes, clearly not believing this statement but everyone that ever met him knew this to be true. 

Liz shook her head but had a loving smile on her face. She stood and kissed Sirius quickly and then the top of Noah and Manda's head before she went up for a nap, complaining about how she had to use the baby not kicking to her advantage. In this moment, that meant sleep.

"You're on by the way. I've know that woman my whole life. I'll get it right," Sirius told his daughter with a shrug as he finished his coffee and watched Noah again. 

~~~~~

In the end Sirius did get it right, but Liz was insistent on none of them changing their names, saying that they could just make it better for the Black name to be associated with them rather than Sirius' extended family. Sirius knew better than to argue with Liz so he just took Manda's slice of cake at lunch instead. 

Now, Manda was upstairs packing up the rest of the stuff that she would need not just for staying at the Zabini household, but also everything that she would need for Hogwarts in the autumn term as well. A soft sigh left her lips as she finally finished packing and zipped her suitcase closed, sitting on her bed and running a hand through her long blonde hair. She looked over when George walked in and smiled lightly. 

"You all packed then?" George asked softly as he noticed the packed trunk and the suitcase sat on top of it. He sat down on the bed beside Manda, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. 

"Yeah. And I leave in like five minutes so I need to hear my three favourite words," Manda softly as she leaned her chin on his shoulder and looked up at him. 

"I love you." 

"I love you too but those aren't the ones I meant and you know it." 

George rolled his eyes but had a smile on his face nonetheless. "You have so little faith in me." 

"Can you blame me?" 

"No, not really. But fine, I'll say them." 

"Okay, good because I was getting worried you wouldn't," Manda teased and kissed his cheek. 

"I'll behave, promise." 


	10. Chapter 10

The second that Manda arrived at the Zabini household, she realised that she had needed a break from the hustle and bustle of 12 Grimmauld Place.

It was a quick trip and she arrived in the front room with a sigh of relief. There was something about the Zabini home that made Manda feel safe and comforted despite it's immense size (which seemed ridiculous considering all that lived there were two people). Then again, it wasn't like they didn't use every single room in the home. Quite a few were used as guest bedrooms but one was Manda's permanent room. They had it right across from an art studio that they had there for her as well for whenever she stayed at the Zabini home.

Manda was quietly swept in to a hug by Antonia Zabini, the woman who had basically been like a mother to her Manda's entire life. Manda sighed contently and hugged back, relaxing in to the warm, comforting body of her best friend's mother. There was something about Antonia's perfume that was always so comforting to Manda and she used to buy herself bottles of it and spray it on her pillow for whenever her nightmares started up or she was having a bad day. It helped her sleep and it helped her feel so safe.

Of course she had never told Antonia this but she had a sneaky suspicion that Blaise had because when Antonia had tried out a new perfume, the next time that Manda saw her, she was back to her normal brand. She suspected that Blaise had said something when he'd noticed how little Manda had relaxed in his mother's arms that day.

"I'm so glad you're here. I wish you'd taken us up on our offer to come with us this summer but I understand why you didn't," Antonia said softly as she pulled away and smoothed down Manda's hair.

"Maybe next year? Things at home should have calmed down by then," Manda suggested with a soft smile on her face.

"Mum, seriously, stop hogging my friend," Blaise complained as he made his way down the stairs and over to the two of them, taking Manda's hand. "We'll be upstairs. Theo said he'll be by in about an hour or two, that okay?"

"Of course. I'll bring you up something to drink," Antonia told her softly before she watched the two kids head upstairs.

Manda flopped on to Blaise's bed and looked up at the ceiling. She didn't need to look around the room. It looked exactly the same as it always had, only sometimes it had some things added to it. His bedroom hadn't changed in the last two years. The back wall was still covered in books and shelves along with a couple of ornaments. The only difference with the bookcase was that some ornaments had been switched out for books. His dresser still stood under his bedroom window with a box containing his rings and his bed was still in the middle of the room.

Blaise sat down beside her, crossing his legs over each other with a raised eyebrow. "You look... drained." 

"Apparently having a family does that," Manda commented as she looked over at her best friend. 

"Well, I wouldn't know. It's just Mum and I here." 

"Very true. Then again, I do also have a crying, attention seeking toddler at home as well which might contribute to the exhaustion." 

"Don't you usually just magic away the bags under your eyes though? Or could you just not be bothered?" Blaise asked her as Manda laid her head in his lap so he would play with her hair. Of course, Blaise obliged, starting to brush through it before he braided certain parts of it. 

A lot of people questioned why Blaise knew how to braid hair, and the reason behind it was a rather sad one. Growing up, Manda went through a phase where she only wanted to have her done in a braid. Narcissa never had time and Lucius had obviously refused so Blaise had gone to his mother and practically demanded that she teach him to braid hair. Antonia had obviously been confused but she had never been one to deny Blaise of anything so she had sat him down and taught him exactly how to do it. The next week, Blaise came over early before they were all set to go out and sat Manda down to do her hair for her. He did it for her every day until she grew sick of braids and then he had taught her to do it herself. Though, Manda did usually just get him to do it, enjoying the way that it felt to have someone's fingers run through her hair. 

"Usually, I do just magic them away but I really can't be bothered to focus on making sure that they stay hidden at the moment," Manda admitted softly before the two of them settled in to a comfortable quiet. 

That quiet didn't last long though and the reason for that can be summed up in two words. 

Theodore Nott. 


End file.
